Jammu and Kashmir

A Jammu based couple have had to seek security from the Honourable Supreme Court of India. The couple who consists of a Sikh male and Muslim female entered into a love based matrimony and now constantly fear the backlash of the society. The couple approached the Supreme Court to ask for security cover for themselves as well as for family members.

On Wednesday, 3 June, a Supreme Court bench formed by Justice P C Pant and Justice Amitav Rai directed the police to provide security cover to the couple who married against the wish of their parents. The bench had ordered the couple to be present on 1 June and after hearing them out, the honourable court issued notices to the state government of Jammu and Kashmir.

The court has also ordered that no disciplinary action be taken in response to the FIR registered against the family members of the couple.

Before the orders for security cover were issued, the couple’s Lawyer, Mandeep Kour, brought to the fore the seriousness of the issue. She said that the girl’s family had registered an FIR against the family members of the male and consequently the father and the brother were arrested and released later on bail. The police however appealed against the bail saying that since Jammu is a small city, the bail could inspire unwanted events dismantling the ethos of the ethnic equilibrium.